After the question I posed during the town hall meeting: “Father Wildes, what do I study as a computer science major?” – I think it is only fair that I offer an explanation.

On the most basic level, I study the operation of computer systems and their programs. I also study theoretical course material to allow me to adapt to new things once I graduate. More concretely, I have taken courses on Web site design, two courses on object-oriented programming languages, a course on database design, implementation, and functionality and a few others while at Loyola. I hope to be able to take courses on network engineering and development, a graphics rendering class, a course about Internet technologies, artificial intelligence and many others.

The computer science program at Loyola offers a variety of courses aimed at allowing all students to better utilize the technology that will exist in their future work places. Failing to offer these courses will leave Loyola graduates missing a vital aspect of their education, an ability to use the material learned in the real world.

In 2004, CNN found computer science degrees to be sixth highest in demand for college undergraduates. Computer science graduates are also among the most well paid of college graduates with an average starting salary of about $49,036 a year.

As the world becomes more and more dependant on computers and people who know how to use them, do you see these figures dropping? In an age where even your server at a restaurant takes your order over a handheld computer, can Loyola really eliminate the program? Perhaps an opportunity to better market the department exists and could be explored.

The Loyola program in computer science is excellent. It allows for a synergy of the practical and theoretical applications of the industry. Students are taught the best techniques of the most applicable languages in use today, as well as the trends leading the industry. They are required to take various courses which ensure that graduates understand the tiers and methodology of software development, not just how to write code. This gives Loyola computer science majors a great foundation from which they can seek employment or enter a graduate school.

The professors in the department are all experienced, knowledgeable and devoted to helping their students reach their fullest potential, while careful not to pave a road for them.

I came to Loyola because I liked it, and I have stayed because it has become a home. Fearing this – the restructuring – would occur, I began to look at other colleges to apply to a few weeks ago, and I am scared to death. I cannot find a school with the right mix of academics, size, devotion to excellence, diversity of student body or dedication of faculty as Loyola. My bar has been set high, please do not make me lower the standards Loyola has developed in order to finish my undergraduate degree.

These are the factors that make the computer science program at Loyola different from all those other schools I could have gone to, as Father Wildes mentioned in an interview with WWL. Yes, many schools offer a computer science program. However, their programs fail to live up to the Jesuit philosophy of education and cannot offer the qualities that make Loyola unique.

Come learn more about our department. The fifth floor of Monroe Hall is a scary place, but if you make the trek and talk with our faculty, you will see what an asset computer science is to Loyola.

Nolan Hughes is a sophomore computer science major from Savannah, Ga.